The second season of the American drama television series 24, also known as Day 2, was first broadcast from October 29, 2002, to May 20, 2003 on Fox. The season begins and ends at 8:00 a.m. The season premiere originally aired without commercial interruption, and has an extended running time of approximately 51 minutes, as opposed to the standard 43 minutes.

The season starts and ends at: 8:00 a.m. (L.A. time); the first scene of the season occurs in Seoul, South Korea (midnight, Seoul time).

The first fifteen hours deal with finding and disposing of the nuclear bomb. After the bomb is disposed of safely, the story focuses on the United States' response to the thwarted attack, and in particular the nation's retaliation against the people responsible for planning it. A recorded conversation between a terrorist involved with the bomb and high-ranking officials of three Middle Eastern countries (which are never specified) is used to implicate those countries in the plot. However, due to Jack Bauer's doubts, Palmer is reluctant to order military action against them until he has absolute proof that the recording is genuine. A majority of his Cabinet then vote to relieve Palmer of his position as President under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, believing his hesitation to be a sign of indecision and weakness, and is therefore indicative of his inability to lead the country effectively. The vice president, James Prescott, is elevated to the presidency and orders military strikes against the three countries to continue.

Jack, Michelle and Tony race to find the evidence that the recording is a forgery, resulting in the discovery that a group of European and American businessmen fabricated it in order to wage war with the Middle East, and planned to benefit from rocketing oil prices caused by the conflict. Once the evidence is produced, the strikes are called off and Palmer is reinstated as President, thanks largely to his ex-wife Sherry Palmer (who risks her life for the evidence, and who also had an indirect hand in the day's events). The eight cabinet members and Vice President tender their resignations (Palmer does not accept them), and Palmer then tells his staff that he believes that the strictest evidence of hostile intent is required before waging war. The President does however, relieve his Chief of Staff Mike Novick, who did not support him until the eleventh hour, despite being his most trusted confidante.

Like in Season One, Season Two ends with a surprise twist. The nuclear bomb situation is resolved without massive loss of life (besides George Mason, who had radiation poisoning and convinced Jack to let him fly the plane) but President Palmer collapses after giving a speech, having been attacked with a biological weapon by Mandy in an assassination attempt. Viewers were forced to wait until the third season to see whether Palmer survived the attack. The sudden shift from a nuclear to biological threat also foreshadows the third season, which initially centers on the threat of an engineered virus being set loose on the public.

24: The Game dealt with the time between Seasons Two and Three. President Palmer is incapacitated from the biological weapon inflicted by Mandy, and many of the duties are being handled by his Vice President.

Retired federal agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is pulled back into field work at President David Palmer's (Dennis Haysbert) request after CTU learns of an impending nuclear attack in Los Angeles. Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert), working as an au pair for Gary Matheson's (Billy Burke) daughter Megan (Skye McCole Bartusiak), sees that he is abusive. Meanwhile, Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter) prepares for her sister, Marie Warner's (Laura Harris) wedding, only to realize that her sister could be marrying a terrorist. Jack has a federal witness (whose case against suspect Joseph Wald can put Wald away for life) brought into CTU and then kills him.

26

2

"Day 2: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m."

Jon Cassar

Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff

November 5, 2002 (2002-11-05)

2AFF02

Jack cuts the witness's head off before leaving to meet Joseph Wald's gang. Megan and Kim run away from the abusive Gary. Meanwhile, Kate grows continually more suspicious about Reza Naiyeer (Phillip Rhys), her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Palmer must prevent a snooping journalist from breaking the threat to the public and starting a panic. Jack goes deep undercover, offering confirmation of the witness's death as friendly gesture in order to buy the gang's trust. Jack then learns that Wald's gang is planning to bomb CTU.

Jack warns White House advisor Lynne Kresge (Michelle Forbes) about the impending bombing of CTU, but her efforts to alert Palmer are impeded by Eric Rayburn (Timothy Carhart), who believes that Jack must stay undercover in order to get to Wald. Jack accompanies Wald's gang to a telecommunications sub-station to cut off CTU's phone lines and to hijack a phone company van to get past security. George Mason (Xander Berkeley) locates the warehouse where the nuclear bomb was built, but a gunfight breaks out and he is exposed to radiation that will kill him in a matter of days. Jack eventually manages to get a warning to CTU, but it is too late to fully evacuate. Kim, unaware of the potential disaster, takes Megan to CTU, believing that it is the safest place for both of them to be, just as the C4 charges explode.

30 deaths are confirmed in the bomb attack. Mason returns to CTU where he orders the medics to revive the unconscious Paula Schaeffer (Sara Gilbert), who has vital information. Palmer becomes aware of Eric's deception. Kim takes Megan to the hospital, where the staff grow suspicious of Kim after finding evidence of physical abuse. Jack is able to find Joseph Wald's location and in an ensuing firefight, kills Wald's gang. He then pursues Wald, and learns that Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke) gave him the inside information on CTU.

Mason refuses to allow Jack to assist in Nina's interrogation, so Jack resorts to blackmail to try to change Mason's mind. Palmer and NSA Director Roger Stanton (Harris Yulin) meet with a Middle Eastern ambassador who may be in league with the terrorist cell Second Wave. Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) visits the Warner home and questions Reza about his possible connection with an extremist named Syed Ali (Francesco Quinn).

30

6

"Day 2: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m."

Jon Cassar

Elizabeth M. Cosin

December 3, 2002 (2002-12-03)

2AFF06

A furious Jack begins his interrogation of Nina. Palmer is surprised and suspicious when his ex-wife Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald) returns and claims to have information about a conspiracy against him from within his own administration. Kim and her boyfriend Miguel (Innis Casey) plan to kidnap Megan from the hospital in order to take her out of Los Angeles and away from the nuclear threat.

Jack must persuade Nina to help with a sting operation against her contact who may know the location of the nuclear bomb. Palmer and Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolella) try to gauge Stanton's loyalty when they investigate the chopper crash. The ailing Mason has an emotional meeting with his estranged son. Kim and Miguel are stopped for speeding in a car stolen from Gary, only to have the police officer discover Carla Matheson's dead body in the trunk.

32

8

"Day 2: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m."

James Whitmore, Jr.

Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff

December 17, 2002 (2002-12-17)

2AFF08

Jack utilizes Nina to locate and capture her contact Faheen in Visalia. Nina attempts to escape afterward, but is recaptured by Jack. Kim and Miguel are arrested and the police plan to take them back to Los Angeles. Tony questions Bob Warner (John Terry) at CTU. Palmer's suspicions of a traitor in his ranks are confirmed. Nina sets herself up as the main player in the search to locate the bomb by killing Faheen on board the plane after she learns the location of Syed Ali. Immediately afterward their plane is shot down.

33

9

"Day 2: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m."

Rodney Charters

Howard Gordon

January 7, 2003 (2003-01-07)

2AFF09

Jack's plane crashes and a team of commandos arrive at the crash site searching for and killing survivors. Jack escapes with Nina and secures a weapon to fight back against them until back-up can arrive. Mason pits Bob against Reza in hopes of learning which one is working with Second Wave. Sherry and Lynne clash at Palmer's headquarters. Kate is interrogated by Ali, who wants to know what she found in her father's files. Jack manages to hold off the commandos successfully and the CTU reinforcements take out the rest of them. Nina, however manages to get hold of a loaded weapon and takes Jack hostage. Fearing that Jack will eventually try to track her down and kill her to avenge his wife's murder, Nina demands from Palmer that she receive a pardon for the murder of Jack Bauer.

34

10

"Day 2: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m."

Rodney Charters

David Ehrman

January 14, 2003 (2003-01-14)

2AFF10

Jack manages to draw Nina out into the open and a sniper is able to save him, wounding Nina in the process. As she is taken back into custody Jack travels to Ali's location, finding one of his henchmen there about to execute Kate. After questioning Kate, Jack realizes that she is the only person at this point who has seen Ali and can recognize him, and enlists her help to track him down. Kim and Miguel risk their lives in order to escape from the police, who are taking them back to Los Angeles by causing the police car they are traveling in to crash. Kim is able to escape but Miguel is wounded and trapped underneath the crushed frame. Syed Ali's American contact is revealed to be Marie, and she kills Reza and the agent searching for information on her father's computer.

Syed Ali is tracked to a nearby mosque and Kate helps to identify him by going undercover. Palmer goes to extreme lengths to uncover Stanton's hidden information. Kim's day hits a low point when she encounters a predator in the woods and gets caught in a hunter's trap. After the prayers are finished CTU wait as the worshipers leave the mosque, but Syed is nowhere to be seen. Jack leads the TAC teams only to find someone burnt alive believed to be Ali.

Jack realizes that the burnt corpse is not Ali from the clothes, and eventually tracks Ali through a hidden underground tunnel and captures him. Jack threatens Ali's family in order to break him and orders his son's apparent execution in order to find out where the bomb is. Mason questions Bob to learn more about Marie's motivations for helping the terrorists, discovering that Marie became radicalized shortly after her mother died. Kim is rescued by a mysterious hunter who offers her a place to stay. Lynne receives a dire warning from Sherry.

37

13

"Day 2: 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m."

Jon Cassar

Maurice Hurley

February 18, 2003 (2003-02-18)

2AFF13

Jack and his men prepare for a confrontation with Stanton's renegade soldiers as they converge on the bomb at Norton Airfield. Kim becomes suspicious of her unusual host, Lonnie. Stanton finally breaks down and gives Palmer the location of the bomb, confessing that he knew about the bomb and the plot weeks ago. Stanton had conspired to allow a nuclear threat onto US soil before intercepting it in order to justify to Palmer the need to strengthen his administration's defense policies. As Jack and the TAC teams continue their search at the airfield, they discover six bodies of the Coral Snake Unit meaning that nobody is tracking the bomb.

38

14

"Day 2: 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m."

Jon Cassar

Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff

February 25, 2003 (2003-02-25)

2AFF14

Stanton reveals that there was a seventh commando with the Coral Snake Unit. Jack also comes to this conclusion based on the bullet wounds inflicted. One of the terrorists, Omar, attempts to escape by plane with the bomb but is intercepted by Jack. The bomb is revealed to be a decoy. Kate spots Marie trying to escape the airfield and is about to be killed by her own sister until Jack intervenes, capturing Marie. Jack and Kate try to break Marie's resolve so they can learn the specific location of the bomb. Palmer confronts his ex-wife with the information that Stanton gave him. The fatally-ill Mason steps down from duty and appoints Tony new director of CTU.

The bomb is found at the airfield but is discovered to be tamper-proof. Tony and Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth) become suspicious of a Middle Eastern intelligence agent named Yusuf Auda (Donnie Keshawarz) who is asking questions about the evidence against Ali. A recording is recovered from Syed Ali's safe-house, apparently of a conversation between Ali and officials from three Middle Eastern countries plotting against the US. Palmer departs for Los Angeles. Jack determines that due to lack of aircraft with precision auto-pilot capability that one man must pilot the plane carrying the bomb and crash it in an isolated spot in the Mojave Desert where the blast and fallout would be best contained. Jack choosing to fly the plane himself, bids a tearful goodbye to his daughter who has left Lonnie's place. However, wanting to make what could be the last few minutes of his life count, Mason boards the plane unnoticed by Jack, gives him a parachute on his last opportunity to pull out, and flies the plane to his own death, thereby saving the people of Los Angeles. The atomic explosion is seen from miles away by Kim and Palmer.

40

16

"Day 2: 11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m."

Ian Toynton

Howard Gordon & Evan Katz

March 25, 2003 (2003-03-25)

2AFF16

Jack and Michelle question Ali who reveals that the recording made in Cyprus is a forgery. However during the transfer from CTU to Guantanamo, Syed is shot and killed by a sniper. Palmer comes across a startling piece of evidence that leads him to prepare for war against three countries who appear to have been involved in the nuclear strike. Kim becomes a hostage in a liquor store robbery, and Jack is contacted by Syed Ali's assassin, the seventh Coral Snake soldier, Jonathan Wallace who offers him critical information regarding the Cyprus recording in exchange for Kate Warner. Michelle assists Jack in breaking Kate out of CTU custody. Tony attempts to stop Jack and fails.

41

17

"Day 2: 12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m."

Jon Cassar

Evan Katz & Gil Grant

April 1, 2003 (2003-04-01)

2AFF17

Having been frozen out of CTU's investigation, Yusuf Auda tails Jack and joins forces with him, in time for the meeting with Jonathan Wallace (Gregg Henry). Wallace reveals that he has been targeted by his former employers for assassination and demands Kate in exchange for evidence about the recordings — Kate has special dispensation to leave the country by air anytime she wants due to her father's CIA connections and Wallace intends to use this to escape. Tony and Carrie Turner (Lourdes Benedicto) spy on Michelle when they suspect that she is working with Jack. Mike and Vice President Jim Prescott (Alan Dale) turn up the heat on Palmer when he expresses his doubts about the impending war. Jack agrees to hand over Kate to Wallace in exchange for the evidence, but as they leave the building they come under attack by a group of assassins.

42

18

"Day 2: 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m."

Jon Cassar

Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff

April 8, 2003 (2003-04-08)

2AFF18

Jack, Kate, Yusuf, and Wallace fight to escape from a deadly band of assassins and manages to reach his vehicle and re-arm. With the help of Michelle's infra-red satellite feed and Yusuf's smoke grenades, all four are able to escape, although Wallace is critically wounded. Palmer decides to take a stronger stance against the civil unrest resulting from the bomb explosion by deploying the National Guard at hotspots being covered by the media. Tony's trust in Michelle is broken when he suspects her of betraying his orders. Jack takes Wallace to a medical clinic, but are unable to save Wallace. Jack notices an anomaly on Wallace's X-ray and realizes that Wallace's intel is surgically implanted in his body.

43

19

"Day 2: 2:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m."

James Whitmore, Jr.

Howard Gordon

April 15, 2003 (2003-04-15)

2AFF19

At the hospital, Yusuf examines the chip recovered from Wallace's body and discovers a tracking device on the chip just as another group of assassins arrive. Jack takes the tracking device to draw the assassins away while Yusuf and Kate escape to CTU, but Jack is captured and tortured. Jack is tortured to the point of flatlining, but escapes with the help of a doctor after discovering the name of the person behind the day's events. Palmer leans towards holding off the attacks leading the Vice-President and other members of the cabinet including Mike Novick, to organize a mutiny to remove Palmer. In the meantime while en route to CTU Yusuf falls victim to a hate crime by thugs who then take Kate.

44

20

"Day 2: 3:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m."

James Whitmore, Jr.

Neil Cohen

April 22, 2003 (2003-04-22)

2AFF20

Jack convinces the medical center doctor to help him escape from Peter Kingsley's (Tobin Bell) men. Lynne is forcibly held before she can warn Palmer of the conspiracy against him. She later manages to escape but falls down the stairs while being pursued by Secret Service and is hospitalized. Ryan Chapelle (Paul Schultze) interferes with Tony's efforts to assist Jack. Kate offers her captors money in exchange for the chip. Jack tracks down Yusuf, who with his dying breath tells Jack where Kate has been taken. Jack arrives at Kate's home, saves her and after a struggle, retrieves the chip.

45

21

"Day 2: 4:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m."

Ian Toynton

Robert Cochran & Howard Gordon

April 29, 2003 (2003-04-29)

2AFF21

The cabinet debates invoking the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to remove Palmer from office citing that his irrational behavior is a sign that he does not have the capacity to perform his presidential duties. Jack finally gets a hold of the chip but it is damaged. Michelle is able to trace the chip to a free-lance hacker and programmer, Alex Hewitt, but when he follows this lead up, he discovers that Sherry is involved in the threat.

46

22

"Day 2: 5:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m."

Ian Toynton

Virgil Williams & Duppy Demetrius

May 6, 2003 (2003-05-06)

2AFF22

Jack locates Alex Hewitt, the man who forged the audio evidence, but his efforts to break him down are sabotaged by Sherry, who wants to cover her own involvement in the plot. Kim returns to the Matheson home to retrieve her belongings, where she has another confrontation with her abusive employer, leading her to kill him in self-defence. Palmer searches for an ally who will help him get a message out to CTU. Tony and Michelle realize that Ryan will do nothing to help Jack and take matters into their own hands. They lure Chappelle to a holding room and knock him out so that they can deploy a helicopter to transport Jack and Hewitt back to CTU. Meanwhile Jack convinces Hewitt to testify but Hewitt, fearing prosecution, gets cold feet and stabs Sherry and escapes from his apartment, forcing Jack to choose between pursuing him and aiding the injured Sherry.

47

23

"Day 2: 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m."

Jon Cassar

Gil Grant & Evan Katz

May 13, 2003 (2003-05-13)

2AFF23

As dawn breaks over Los Angeles, Sherry survives the stabbing and Hewitt is killed when Jack's shot to his leg leads to a fatal fall. Jack then realizes that he must persuade Sherry to help him get evidence against Kingsley. Things go awry at CTU when Division becomes suspicious of Chappelle's absence. Carrie calls in Brad Hammond and Tony is taken into custody. Michelle goes off-site to work with Jack and before she is apprehended manages to set Jack up with Hewitt's voice-manipulating program so that Jack could fool Kingsley that Hewitt is still alive. Jack has Sherry call Kingsley to negotiate an exchange — Hewitt for any evidence Kingsley has linking Sherry to the conspiracy. While en route to the meeting point, Jack, suffering chest pains crashes the car.

Jack and Sherry head to the Los Angeles Coliseum for Sherry's meeting with Kingsley, where they hope to obtain confirmation that the recordings are false. Mike Novick has a change of heart and orders CTU to help Jack. Tony and Michelle are both released and agree to help Chappelle on the condition the charges against them are dropped. Palmer, Prescott, and the cabinet gather to listen to Sherry's pivotal meeting with Kingsley as the bombers close in. Ultimately, the attack is called off at the last minute when the confession is obtained, and Kingsley and his men are killed in a raid. Palmer is reinstated as President, but he relieves Mike of his duties. The season ends in shock as Palmer encounters a villain from Day 1.

Season 2 marked the first of three uses of the show's Air Force One set. Xander Berkeley's character spent much of the season dying of radiation poisoning and various actors commented that they thought the story played out very well.[1] Kiefer Sutherland became a producer for the second season. In an interview, he joked that "Fox originally did not want to give me a raise so they gave me a title."[2] In the same interview, Sutherland mentions that he tried suggesting a storyline detail which got rejected by the writers.[2] One idea that did get accepted by the writers was Carlos Bernard's idea to mention London's "Finsbury Park Mosque" during an interrogation scene.[1] Shortly after the season aired, authorities raided this mosque, having discovered that radical groups were indeed meeting there.[3]

The original trailer titled "Get Ready" aired in early September 2002, slightly more than a month before the season premiere. It is only 15 seconds long and features a number of shots from season 2 in quick succession. It ends with Jack telling his daughter that she has to leave Los Angeles.[4]